[B-Greek] Isa 63,9 in LXX

Harold R. Holmyard III hholmyard at ont.com
Wed Oct 19 11:13:54 EDT 2005


Dear Octavio,

>  Ireneus quoted Isa 63,9 in Adversus Haereses book III:
>"Neither an elder, nor angel (OU PRESBUS OUDE AGGELOS ), but the Lord
>Himself (ALL AUTOS KURIOS) will save them because He loves them, and will
>spare them He will Himself set them free."
>Due to it , Ireneus understands this text as Christ coming.
>It is clear that he is quoting the LXX version. However this translation
>does not agree with the Hebrew; then the meaning is not the same. In 
>this text,
>I think, the LXX version misunderstood the Hebrew.
>What happened with this text ?

HH:  The LXX put the first words of Isa 63:9 at the end of 63:8. The 
phrase "in all their distress," which starts 63:9, became the end of 
the sentence in 63:8. The LXX next chose the Kethib reading "not" 
rather than the Qere "to Him" at the beginning of 63:9. It apparently 
took the word "distress" as the noun "ambassador" ("elder") from the 
Hebrew word CYR. This word appears without the middle Y at Isa 57:9. 
They may have been influenced by that earlier verse and an unpointed 
text. The LXX interpreted "His face" (or "His presence") as "the Lord 
Himself." The LXX took the perfect verb "saved" as a prophetic 
perfect: "will save." It did the same thing with the following verbs.

				Yours,
				Harold Holmyard





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